One of the best sources of information about immigration issues is the American Immigration Council.(Council) Their website contains a wealth of information: www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org
According to their website mission statement the Council “uses facts to educate the public on the important and enduring contributions that immigrants make to America. The Council is a national leader in challenging the myths and misinformation that too often dominate the political and public debate around immigration. Through research and analysis, the Council promotes the development of fair and rational immigration policies that reflect fundamental American values.”
Last week the Council published a fact sheet titled Debunking the Myth of Immigrants and Crime. This is especially timely during the election when so many politicians are scapegoating immigrants. In this document they discuss the research that shows that immigrants not only do not increase crime, but their presence actually can also strengthen public safety. The Council “ compared crime data to demographic data from 1980 to 2022, the most recent data available. The data showed that as the immigrant share of the population grew, the crime rate declined. In 1980, immigrants made up 6.2 percent of the U.S. population, and the total crime rate was 5,900 crimes per 100,000 people. By 2022, the share of immigrants had more than doubled, to 13.9 percent, while the total crime rate had dropped by 60.4 percent, to 2,335 crimes per 100,000 people. Specifically, the violent crime rate fell by 34.5 percent and the property crime rate fell by 63.3 percent.
The report mentions past studies by other organizations , 19 of them, which all came to one of two conclusions. Either they showed that the proportion of immigrants in an area appeared to have no effect on violent or property crime or they show that increased proportions of immigrants were associated with lower violent and property crime rates. The Council looked at other research such as Purdue University whose sociologists’ analyzed data for all 50 states and the District of Colombia and concluded that “ undocumented immigrants between 1990 and 2014 were associated with lower rates of drunken driving arrests, drug arrests, drug fatalities and reports of rape. And no association existed between state-level undocumented immigrant concentrations and homicide, robbery, or assault.”
The fact sheet also mentioned a multi-year study of crime statistics published by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . This study showed that “undocumented immigrants are roughly half as likely to be arrested for violent crimes as the U.S.-born. “
The final section of the Council’s fact sheet is titled “To fight Crime, Embrace Immigrant Communities” They conclude that strong social ties, robust community programs and healthy economies have long been known to help keep crime rates down. By welcoming immigrants, rather than fearing them, communities have already shown that they can further lower their crime rates.”
Find a complete copy of the Council fact sheet by clicking here.
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